The Dark Mark Burns
by UndeniablyMe
Summary: She is the only one who is not afraid of what he was, what he's become, and what he could be...


**The Dark Mark Burns**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **You know the drill. You read, decide if you like it or not, and then review. So, without anything more to add, our story. See you down at the bottom... (hopefully!)

**-UndeniablyMe ;)**

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_The Dark Mark burns…_

I can see it in your eyes.

I can feel the heat from your arm.

And I know its there.

I know I should be afraid.

I know what you've become.

And yet… I can't be.

And I don't know why.

--

"_Pass the marmalade please," the girl with pretty blue eyes said, holding out her hand for it. The proud standoffish boy looked up, surprised that she'd even think of addressing him but she, unlike everyone else, doesn't seem afraid._

_"Pass the marmalade?" he sneered at her. If it had been anyone else they would have cowered at that look but this strange girl didn't even look impressed._

_"Yeah. Pass the marmalade."_

--

You know I never really though of it...

(Aw, who am I kidding? I always thought of it.)

But there are a lot of things wrong with Pansy Parkinson.

She's clingy, to start off with. Much too clingy.

She always wanted to know who you were writing and she'd owl you at all hours of the day—even during the school year.

It wasn't enough for you to tell her that everything between the two of you was fine, that you were exactly where you wanted to be in your relationship with her.

She wanted you to _show _her.

She wanted you to make her _believe _it.

--

"_But Draco…" she whined, pulling on his robes. "Draco, we don't have anytime for _us_."_

_He looked amused and pushed her away, knowing as he always did of those blue eyes watching him. "I wasn't aware we needed time for us."_

--

You weren't into that.

You weren't into snogging in broom closets.

You weren't into snuggling in front of the common room fire.

"It's so… _exposed,_" you'd drawl, rolling your eyes. Your beautiful silver Slytherin eyes… "What if someone saw us Pansy? Use your head, would you?"

You didn't understand though; that was the _whole _reason that she _wanted _to snuggle in front of the fire.

That's why she wanted to snog in a broom closet.

She wanted to be caught.

She wanted people to know.

She wanted people to talk.

--

"_Me and him are definitely an item," she told the girl with blue eyes smugly. "Very much together… Oh, don't put that color of eyeshadow on Greengrass, it makes you look like a fairy."_

_The girl didn't listen and applied it anyways. She thought it made her already blue eyes look even bluer._

--

There are a _lot _of things wrong with Pansy Parkinson.

Her eyes are too narrow.

Her legs are too long.

She wanted to parade you around like some absurd show dog that had one first prize at a carnival.

She wanted to know where you were at. _All _the time.

It didn't matter how many nights, right before you went to your dormitory just to escape her for a few hours, you assured her that _she _would be the only girl you were dreaming of that night.

You always were a good liar weren't you Draco? One of the best.

But Pansy wasn't fooled. She knew by your face.

She knew that, if given the chance, by that same time tomorrow night you'd be gone.

--

"_But Draco, where are you going?" she asked, sliding down the couch and perching on it in what she thought was a demure and seductive way. The girl with blue eyes barely retained a snort._

"_Around Pansy. Stop nagging." And he left without another word._

--

She didn't understand why you were shutting her out in your sixth year.

She used to come to tell me all about it.

Not _Daphne, _her fellow dorm mate, or even those horrible thugs you called friends.

Me. Little, plain looking Astoria Greengrass.

An inconsequential Slytherin two years below you.

She knew I wouldn't talk like my sister Daphne would.

She knew I wouldn't scratch my head and misunderstand her.

She knew that I'd keep it inside of me.

She was right.

--

"_And… I don't know where he's going or what he's doing!" she sobbed dramatically, her shaking hands covering her face. "He won't tell me what it is and I know—I know!—he's keeping something from me."_

_The black haired blue eyed girl gave a small nod, eyes firmly fixed on something just above the crying girl's shoulder._

"_I'm sorry Pansy," she said stiffly, feeling no true sorrow for the situation she was in. "I'm… sorry…"_

--

She used to whine all the time that you no longer talked to her.

She thought that you had taken up with another girl behind her back.

"As if anyone could ever replace _me _in Draco's life!"

She tried questioning Crabbe and Goyle about it.

She might as well have tried interrogating a brick wall.

She started checking all your shirts, looking for the smallest trace of what might or might not be the lipgloss of another girl.

She knew by your face that there had to be something more; another girl, another love.

_I _knew differently.

--

"_It's another girl, I know it!" she raged, kicking over an empty bench and upsetting a bottle of pumpkin juice all over a group of fourth years. "He's with another girl!"_

_Astoria Greengrass simply nodded, letting Pansy blow steam. But really she wasn't interested in Pansy's thoughts of Draco Malfoy being with another girl. Those haunted silver eyes hadn't become that way because of a _girl.

--

It wasn't another girl was it Draco?

No. Not at all.

I think… I think I wish it would have been…

Another girl I mean.

Anything but what it really was…

--

"_I'm sure he doesn't have room in his life for _another _girl," the black haired girl assured the pale haired one. "Not in present circumstances."_

_The pale haired girl didn't even spare her companion a glance and kept staring hardly over at the offending male as if wishing to burn him with her glare. Nothing Astoria Greengrass ever said was important enough to take notice of._

--

There was something wrong…

I could see it in your tarnished silver eyes.

You were afraid…

I could see it in your slumped and guarded shoulders.

You didn't know where to go…

I could see it in your mindless gait.

I wish I could have helped you…

You were so far away…

--

_It was burning, consuming him… The Dark Mark burned… __And there was _nothing_ she could do…_

--

Pansy couldn't have understood that you were holding the weight of the world on your shoulders.

She couldn't have known that the burden you were carrying was much more serious than a hidden _relationship_.

She thought you were with another girl.

And all I could think while she was venting her silly problems to me was, _what a moron._

_--_

"_He never owls me anymore," a frustrated Pansy said. "He hasn't even answered any of my owls!"_

_Astoria didn't even bother pointing out the sheer stupidity of sending him owls if he was at school with her and if he didn't even come down to breakfast anymore. It wasn't like Pansy would listen to her._

_Then again... no one did._

_--_

She never talked about anything else to me.

She never asked, "How is your day going?"

There was never a, "Was your holiday good?"

Or even a, "Nice weather we're having isn't it?"

No. It was always about _you._

--

"_Oh, excuse me!" Astoria Greengrass said after having turned a corner and ran into the infamous Draco Malfoy. "I wasn't—"_

"_It's fine, fine," he said absently, holding out a book that she had dropped to her. And without another word he walked off and the blue eyed girl couldn't help but realize how strange it was for him to not have his usual cronies—or at least those giggly girls that had started accompanying him lately—with him. He looked lonely, lost, and sad…_

_She made a note to never mention it to Pansy Parkinson._

--

I guess I can't blame her.

Though, I was extremely annoyed at first.

You see, we talked about nothing… _Nothing…_

Nothing but Draco Malfoy, for the longest time.

Or, at least she talked and I listened.

But I can't blame her…

Because, really, it's all her fault that I fell in love with you.

Maybe if she hadn't talked about you so much it would have never happened.

Who would have thought I'd ever be grateful for something Pansy did?

--

"_Draco Malfoy." She purred the name proudly. "Pansy Malfoy… It has a ring doesn't it?"_

_Astoria kept her lips firmly shut, but inside she was sure she had cracked a rib with the effort of trying not to laugh._

--

Pansy didn't understand.

You're not Draco Malfoy, son of the death eater.

You're not a pure-blood enthusiast.

You're not another death eater, another _Malfoy._

You are what you were forced to be.

And underneath all the pretenses, the forced showings of scorn and hate...

You're just _Draco_.

Just Draco.

You'll always be _just Draco _to me.

--

"_Oh, hello Draco." _

_Draco… He'd never heard someone say his name the way that she said it… _Draco… _Not as if it were some feared word, not as if it was something that were dirty or something she loathed… _Draco…

_Like he were just _Draco, _and not something more…_

--

There are a lot of things wrong with Pansy Parkinson.

She's mean.

She's selfish.

Did I mention she was clingy?

She talked about you _all the time_.

But I can't complain.

Because this is really all her fault.

--

_"What are you doing here?"_

_He gave a guilty start and looked around, prepared to say something sneeringly to anyolne who dared come across him when he was feeling so angry, so frustrated so... dangerous. _

_But when he saw who it was he knew he never could. It was that silent, dark haired girl with the amazing blue eyes... They mysterious girl who, somehow, always seemed to be watching..._

_The blue eyed girl looked curious as she stared at the lone figure of Draco Malfoy, completely still against the dimly lit bookshelf. She had been like a guardian angel for so long, always watching, always calm, always peaceful... And even with how low he had sunk, how dark he had become, he wasn't going to insult an angel. __Especially not one--he jeered at himself for even thinking it--that he'd come to see as _his _guardian angel._

_And so he said nothing but inclined his head to her and then quickly walked away. Astoria tried not to be disappointed. Did he even know her name?_

--

I'm in love with you, you see.

And maybe if she hadn't talked to me about you so much…

Well, maybe I wouldn't be.

There _are _a lot of things wrong with Pansy Parkinson.

But if there was never anything wrong with Pansy Parkinson…

I don't think I would have fallen so hard for you.

--

"_He's so lonely without me," the older girl said sadly, twisting her lank and pale hair through her pudgy fingers. "Look at him… absolutely devastated without me…"_

_Astoria's lips weren't even tempted this time to betray any hint of advice or expression. Her thoughts kept going back to the silent youth in the library, the broken and afraid boy that she had seen leaning against those books..._

_Had those been tears on his cheeks?_

--

You look afraid Draco…

You're grabbing your arm…

I think I know what it is…

_The Dark Mark burns, doesn't it?_

_--_

_He grabbed his arm, as if against his will and her eyes flew to his immediately, her face paling. And, for a moment, it was just him and her in the room, staring at one another. He finally understood._

_She was no angel, no guardian. She was a _girl_, a girl who had known all this time what he was--a snake, a would-be murderur, a coward--and still she wasn't afraid. He had traveled to places unknown to her, sunk into the darkest of pits, comitted abomoninations... But she didn't look afraid._

She knew who he was and she wasn't afraid.

"_Slytherin's time to evacuate!"_

_Slytherin's time to choose had come… Were they ready?_

_--_

You're running back away from the exit, away from safety.

I want to yell for you to come back.

But you won't listen to me. I know you won't.

I don't think you know who I am.

I think… I think I love you Draco.

--

_He ran away from the seventh floor corridor and down the hall. Her eyes followed him and betrayed fear for the first time. What if he didn't come back? What if he did something stupid? He was good underneath, she knew it. He just needed to know it…_

_--_

You may not be brave like a Gryffindor or loyal like a Hufflepuff or smart like a Ravenclaw…

But you are to a certain degree.

Do the right thing Draco.

Because the end is coming near…

They'll call me a traitor.

--

_Her heart pounded but she knew what she had to do. There had never been a question, when the moment would come to pick a side, which she would choose. It had just taken longer for her to uncover the truth, to chip away at what it was that had blinded her, had kept her safe._

_The time of safety had passed._

_She slid into the shadows, waited for her sister to pass her, and then ran. The time for Slytherin to choose had come… She knew where her loyalties lay. _

_--_

I slip away from the group and run down the same corridor that you did when making your escape.

But I'm not taking the path you are.

Because as much as I love you…

I can't do the things you've done.

You've gone somewhere I can't follow.

--

_She knew what side he was fighting on, but she coldn't bring herself to live a lie anymore. It had never been harder to be a Slytherin. _

_She had to act _now. _She had to try… And if she was remembered as a traitor so be it. She couldn't do _this _anymore._

_The Dark Mark burns…_

_--_

I'm fighting against what my family believes in.

I'm fighting against my sister.

I'm fighting against the Dark Lord.

I'm fighting against _you_.

--

"_Draco!" She ran through the otherwise silent halls, calling his name feverously. Around her a war is being raged. "Draco! Where are you…? Where are you…?"_

_She knows what he is. He is dangerous, he is unstable, terrible and vulnerable. He could very well kill her without even having meant to. _

_But that is not why she is afraid._

_--_

But no matter what you are Draco.

What you've become.

_I love you._

And the biggest thing that's wrong with Pansy Parkinson?

She kept me away from you.

But now, it feels like its too late for me and you.

We're too late…

--

_The Dark Mark burns… Merlin help us. __The Dark Mark burns…_

___

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**A/n: **I've been experimenting with a different layout and I'm actually quite happy with the way it turned out. So, this story is dedicated to **BittersweetSummer**, who not only encouraged me to try out the Draco/Astoria pairing but also gave me advice and inspiration for the layout. BS, there's nothing BS about you ;) Thanks for all the support!

Well, that's all for now! Until next time I suppose...

-UndeniablyMe ;)


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